i put in thin oil by accident
 

i just changed my oil with 5W30 with oil cleanser (makes it thinner), i asked for this because it was what the previous owner had put in during his last oil change. now i'm reading that 10W30 or 20W30 oil is more common for people to put in the FD, and that it's actually better to have thicker oil because it dissaptes heat better? will i be okay with my current oil set up, or should i go change it again immediately?

i usually use 20w40. The thicker oil seems to work very well in the warm summer.

I wouldn't worry about it, especially this time of year. A lot of car manufacutures recomend the lighter weight oils due to the better mileage. Just change it out when it gets hot again.

I think you mean 20w50, not 20w30 ;)

Where are you located? 5w30 should be ok during the cold winter months in some parts of the country.....I run 10w30 here in the NJ winters, then switch to 20w50 for the summers.

For street driving I wouldnt be too concerned, but I wouldnt go road racing or dyno tuning with that kinda thin oil in the car during warm weather.

geez spaceman...your having all kinds of problems. ^and wat godfella said in the above is correct. depending on your location a thinner oil in the winter(10w30) and a little thicker in the summer will suffice(20w50).

the workshop manual recommends 5w30 in below 32F temps and 10w30 above that

i do not have any experience as far as oil for the rx7 goes (mine hasnt been running long enough to change oil lol) but i read a very interesting article somone linked here, and it has me thinking there is no advantage to 10w30 over 5w30. and 0w40 seems like a perfect oil for the summer but i will have to research more.

does anyone have a link to that article, i know it was in somones signiture.

i use idemitsu 10w30 all year long in cyprus ( a warm country all year long) and its perfect, no issues

I run 10w40 in the summer... Who drives these things in the Winter?

Not everywhere has a "Winter"

lucky bastards

I was wondering when someone was going to point that out.
It says this under the hood, too.

The workshop manual also pertains to a 255 hp car driven by mr. and mrs. average american.

well the point is that, according to the workshop manual, hes safe

5w-30 would not be a problem in cooler weather, but the fact that you added a cleaner that thins it further is a concern.

I suggest you just replace it with a 10w-30. 15w-50 or 20w-50 is a good track and summer oil but it will be a little rough on the engine on cold startups.

Dave

I really have no idea how people go through life worrying about the simplest things.

How much is oil nowadays?

Just change it to 10w-30 and be on the safe side instead of wondering, "o what if", "should i just", "maybe it can be safe if".

Just change it to 10w-30. Go to walmart, pick up the special 5 quart jug, its usually around 11.99 or 12.99 most of the time, even the name brand oils, like castrol gtx, go change the oil and BE DONE.

Would you rather just go through the stages of it, wondering each day if you should just drive it, is it ok, when you can spend the 11, 12, 13 bucks and have a peace of mind knowing you put in the recommended oil weight.

Jeez.

My winter here in Miami includes 85 degree days with highs in the low 90s. No reason to not drive.

That's not winter. That's the better half of summer.

But Dave, you live in the middle of Pennsyltucky :lol:

It's winter here ............ Today :). That just means that its raining ;)

not really, our emissions laws are horrid..

we dont have emissions, i guess its an even trade

ive been using 10w30 still might switch to 20w50 when i actually start driving it again.

seriously just change it, unlike gas oil isnt any more expensive really. and seeing as how we dont need synthetic, 5 quarts of gtx is like 12 bucks at wal mart.

Well, I actually live in Atlanta, currently in Miami, but moving to Philadelphia. Drove down here to visit my sisters and register my car away from the emissions nazis.

I don't know why we are still debating about motor oils. After I read this post:

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136052

I started using 0w-40 in my car. Can someone (after reading the above in its entirety) tell me why this is wrong?

The downside to a 0w-40 is that is uses viscosity index improvers. These are long chain polymers that thicken the oil when hot. (You start with 0w-25, and with the VIIs you get to 0w-40). Same with Syntec 5w-50 - that kind of viscosity doesn't come naturally.

These polymers don't burn as cleanly as plain dino or synthetic oil. I've been looking for more info on that point but so far I've found little - no mfr wants to talk about these VIIs since they're not too proud of them. If you're going for long oil change intervals (which FD owners don't do) the polymer chains will be the first thing to break down.

Dave

Wow that is the greatest post on oil ever.

And i have to take that guys word for it because of the actual cars these people are driving ;)

there was actually a good thread about oil not too long ago where we discussed the Ferrarichat article. The article is great with good info, but it's also specific to piston engines. The biggest difference that we'll see is that the gears in the rotary engine requires a stronger shear resistance than many of the 0w oils provide.

I've considered and heard good results from running a motorcycle synthetic oil in our cars for that same shear resistance reason. The bike oils are formulated to work through the transmission which would definately require the same shear characteristics that our gears would. I may actually give it a try this summer.

Also don't forget that our cars suffer from fuel dillution very quickly which will kill just about any oil, which is why we require such short change intervals. I know that Dave has talked about doing test on the BioSyn oils that supposedly helped with that issue on DI cars, and I'm looking forward to the results.

Unfortunately I think that in the end, as long as you're changing your oil at proper/reasonable intervals (2K for me) then it's going to be pretty hard to have an oil related failure if you're buying good stuff. which negates the need for countless threads of discussion.

If you're looking for more, go to www.bobistheoilguy.com and spend your next few months reading.

On my old FC I was running 15w-50 as recommended by the engine builder. I started running the 0w-40 in my FD after reading various articles about it such as the one mentioned above. My biggest concern was start-up. Since they claim that that is the hardest time on the engine. Is it the same for rotaries? Also from that article, it pretty much says that at normal operating temperature, all the oils are about the same. My logic was why put something in that will give to wear at startup and not make a significant difference at regular operating temperatures?

To answer the original question, I would change the oil apperently other additives are the worst thing you can to to the specially crafted factory formulation.

And now its sunny and about 65 degress outside :)

That logic is exactly why I've been thinking about those extended viscosity oils still.

It's a tradeoff, obviously. As with anything, UOAs are the true and best test.

Dave